


When We Come Together (Like a Force of Nature)

by peppermintjong



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Shipwrecked, Explorer Chanyeol, First Meetings, M/M, Merman Minseok, Supernatural Elements, minseok isn't your average merman I guess lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 14:31:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermintjong/pseuds/peppermintjong
Summary: Chanyeol sets sail to find an unchartered island, but the seas don't seem to think he should find it.Title from Zayn's Natural.





	When We Come Together (Like a Force of Nature)

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Aquaman today FINALLY and I just got inspired to write...whatever this is ahahaha
> 
> Minseok is a merman but like not a conventional one???? although I'm not sure what would be conventional lmao  
> As always this is unbeta'd and barely reread before I'm posting this so enjoy! >w<

Chanyeol is so fucking lost. He’s looking at his map unfurled and weighted down by a couple of lamps to keep in place on his table, his boat rocking gently with the slightly choppy seas, and wondering where the hell it was he went wrong. He’s been searching for an island off the mainland, what was supposed to be a five day journey to reach, but it’s been almost seven days and there’s been no sight of land since he left it. The man who gave him this information, gave him the map even, must have been playing the cruellest of tricks to give him this knowing he is looking for an island that clearly does not exist.

 

He sighs heavily, throwing his glasses on the table before rubbing his eyes, exhausted and sick of the constant rolling of the boat. What he would give to be on solid ground right now. He can’t imagine how sailors can be on the seas for months on end, how pirates can live their lives on the ocean and only touch ground when they need to restock their supplies. Looking out the window that gives a wide view of the deck below him and the dark waters beyond, Chanyeol sighs again, tries to push out the negative thoughts as he eventually shoves his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, poring over his map again. He made sure his coordinates were correct, even wrote them down as a little list on the top left corner of the map, but somewhere he must’ve gone north-east instead of just north or something because he’s not yet found the newfoundland.

 

It’s nearing sunrise when the rocking of his boat becomes violent, startling him out of a small nap he was planning on taking. He topples out of his chair, yelping loudly, quickly righting himself just as another wave crashes into his starboard side. The lightening sky is clear though when he leans over his wheel, gripping the handles tightly as it starts to spin with the water’s currents. He doesn’t know where this even came from, having thought the water here was calm barring any wind interference, but he starts to panic as the ship groans in protest, being pushed one way and Chanyeol trying to fight against it. He wasn’t fully prepared for a situation like this, thinking it would be smooth sailing and only skimming past it and onto the more vital instructions, and now he’s going to pay for it.

 

Water crashes hard on the deck, throwing the balance enough to knock Chanyeol off his feet and he lets out a scream that he has no time to be ashamed of, because another wave breaks against the starboard side yet again, almost as if –

 

Chanyeol crawls over to his table, pulling himself up to get a look at his map again. He must have been off-course but somehow managed to get back on track, or something, because he looks at the compass embedded in the table and then at the shadow of what he can only believe to be is an island that is looming up on his right side. The waves are pushing him away from the island, regardless off currents and winds and Chanyeol feels cold all over at the strangeness of the whole thing. Something isn’t right.

 

Another tidal wave hits his tiny ship so hard he’s thrown across the room along with his lamps and other loose items, his back flaring in pain as it connects with the lip of the shelves behind him and he lets out a sharp yell, panic overriding any rational thought he had left. He’s gonna die, he’s gonna die, he’s gonna –

 

Chanyeol’s world tilts, his weight shifted off his feet as he’s knocked further back, the ship flipping over too far; he’s crushed against the side of the cabin beneath crates and books, feels the way water continuously knocks them over until he’s capsizing. He hears the roar of the ocean for a second before he meets it, water flooding the cabin so quickly he barely has a chance to take a breath and hold it. The water is frigid, his body reacting so violently he lets out his air and terror truly sets in, barely able to see through the rolling waves and debris that was his ship to tell which way is up. His lungs are starting to scream for air, his heart pounding faster as his vision starts to blur, darkening around the edges. Fear numbs his extremities, black spots distort his vision as water fills his lungs, dragging him down.

 

 

 

Water and bile surge up his throat, burning as it leaves his mouth. His coughs are hacking, stomach heaving as he struggles to get in enough air. He rolls onto his back, the sun warming the top of freezing head, sand clinging uncomfortably to the skin of his face. It takes a few more minutes before he can think properly enough to realise – he’s on _land_.

 

Blinking rapidly Chanyeol sits up gingerly, his whole body aching as he takes in his surroundings: white clean sand, soft waves lapping at his feet, gorgeous tropical forestry behind him when he twists to look at it. It’s almost like a paradise if Chanyeol hadn’t almost died before. He frowns as a bird breaks free of the tall canopy, soaring high above him. How _did_ he get here?

 

There’s no set of footprints leading away from where he was laying, there’s no ship anchored just offshore. He’s watching the waves crash softly against the sand when he spots movement further out, and at first he thinks it must be something from his ship drifting ashore but he notices it’s still, unwavering against the movement of the water and that dread returns as it grows in height, revealing a head with long hair. As a set of shoulders breach the water Chanyeol starts to freak because the man is coming out of the ocean and is coming towards him. His weak arms scrabble against the giving sand as he tries to back away, flight definitely winning over the small fight instinct he has. There’s something unnatural about this man whose ankles are now only in the water, the salty liquid pouring off of his body.

 

Sunlight hits the man square in the face and Chanyeol is momentarily distracted just by how beautiful he is: smooth tan skin and inky black hair, wavy and hanging just below his shoulders wet, strong straight brows and a confident gait with his shoulders rolled back. Chanyeol’s gaze is drawn down momentarily at… the mint green scales that have grown over his legs, over the firm muscles of his thighs to fade out at his hips. Chanyeol’s head spins as he follows the few iridescent scales littering his torso, between hardened abdominal muscles and firm pectorals, to the cluster that are on either side of his neck and now Chanyeol’s freaking the fuck out.

 

“I –” he gets out and the man – is he even a man? A god? – halts in his place, tilting his head to the side. Chanyeol finally meets his gaze and lets out the loudest shriek.

 

The man’s eyes are completely opaque, a mint fogginess swirling in the eyeball and it’s the most unnerving thing Chanyeol has ever seen, something so eerie and unsettling that his heartrate spikes, his brain short-circuiting.

 

“I am Minseok,” the fish-man says and Chanyeol’s mouth gapes. “Do not be afraid.”

 

“I – I’m –”

 

“I saved you from your shipwreck,” he cuts over him, his accent thick but one Chanyeol has never heard before. “Our land keeps unwanted visitors away.”

 

“I – Wait, your land?” he asks, eyes bulging. “The _land_ did that to my ship?”

 

The fish-man – Minseok – grins and Chanyeol spots sharpened teeth. Minseok is alluring and threatening all at once. “Yes. It is a way to protect us from outsiders.”

“Outsiders,” Chanyeol echoes and Minseok nods. “You mean humans?” Another nod.

 

“Humans will pose a threat if they find us,” he says but does not elaborate further and Chanyeol doesn’t push, still reeling.

 

“Then,” he pauses to figure out his wording, “why did you save me? And bring me here?”

 

It’s Minseok’s turn to frown, fogged eyes piercing right through Chanyeol, like the latter is a puzzle that’s missing a piece. Water still clings to him, running in small rivulets that are incredibly distracting. “I do not know,” Minseok finally says and Chanyeol’s head snaps up from where he was ogling Minseok’s strong chest, cheeks aflame. “I took pity on you.”

 

“Gee thanks,” he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He groans as his arms shake, feeling like jelly, and the gravity of the situation starts to settle in. “What am I going to do now then? I have no ship.”

 

Minseok smiles, more inviting than his last one and Chanyeol is sure he’s being charmed, that Minseok must be one of those fabled sirens he had heard from silly tales, because he finds himself relaxing and he takes the hand that’s offered to him, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He tries not to cringe too much at the slimy feeling of webbing between Minseok’s fingers.

 

“I can help you with that,” Minseok says, nodding his head in the direction of the forest behind him. “Come with me.”

 

Chanyeol nods, letting himself smile and receiving another sharpened one in return, feeling shaky and nervous and excited as he follows the mysterious man before him.

**Author's Note:**

> it's a little ambiguous the ending but I might want to work with this verse again!
> 
> let me know if you like it! x


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